Sunday Ramble in Marple: Sunday, September 27, 2015

One of the things that I think is really neat about the UK -- and that is substantially different from the USA -- is the widespread tradition and popularity of what they refer to over here as rambling.

Sure, Americans like to take walks and go on hikes, but we're also a little obsessed with our private property.  Take two steps off public park lands, and chances are high you'll quickly come face-to-face with Posted: No Trespassing signs all over the place.  We have a fine historical tradition of shooting trespassers in the USA.  Now granted, if you were a homesteading pioneer as recently as a hundred years ago, a person coming uninvited onto your property was just as likely to be a mortal threat to you as anything else, so there is a solid basis to that 'shoot first, ask questions later' tradition.  Still, I remember numerous times having people around Atlanta yell at us to get off their private property when I was doing trail walks or runs with the Hash House Harriers.  No reasonable 21st century person could assess a pack of sweaty runners to be a mortal threat, and it's not like we were stomping through anyone's flower beds.  The property owners were just being assholes.  Americans are boxed in by jealously guarded private property on all sides, and we have to escape to public parks or pay a fee to someone (and sometimes both) to be able to get outdoors.

Around the UK, on the other hand, there are literally hundreds of years worth of 'common law' public footpaths and bridleways all over the place.  Right of access based on local tradition is also recognized.  Additionally, the right to roam applies to all open access land including mountains, moors, heaths, downs, common land and some land along designated coastal paths.  What a national treasure. (and no bears, wolves or cougars to worry about!  just ornery farm animals.)

Rambling through a farmer's field with a clear view over the Cheshire Plain towards Manchester.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, there was a large push by wealthy landowners and aristocrats to close off formerly common lands and rights of way with walls, fences and hedges, and this was called the Enclosures Movement.  The movement was supported with two Enclosure Acts passed in the 1800s by the central government, which in my opinion, pretty much constituted government-backed theft.  It reminds me of the Claimers from season 4 of The Walking Dead.  See something you want?  Yell "Claimed!" first and the loudest, and then beat the living daylights out of anyone who disagrees.  The above is a perhaps gross over-simplification of an extremely long, complicated, convoluted history of and highly-politically-charged subject of enclosures, but the point is that during that time in history, right of ways, right of access and rambling were under serious threat.

(To clarify, as a libertarian, I am a firm believer in an individual right to property, and I am opposed to all government interference with private property.  However, that right applies to justly acquired property.  You cannot reasonably say that property acquired through force, fraud, confiscation or theft is your private property.  How that principle applies to property that was unjustly acquired two hundred years ago, well now, that gets complicated.)

A counter-movement to protect walker's rights grew, culminating in the formation of the National Council of Ramblers Federations in 1931, which then evolved into the Ramblers Association.  Ramblers and other advocates for rights of way have continued to push to protect and to expand walkers' rights for the past 80 years.  Today, Ramblers are a huge charity organization with local affiliates all over the country, filled with volunteers that help monitor rights of way and trails while leading all types of group walks.  I joined the Ramblers, because I think they have a great mission, and I figured walking with groups would be a fantastic and safe way to explore and see the countryside, whilst also getting much-needed exercise and fresh air.

This past Sunday was my first ramble.  I met up with the Stockport group, and we walked about 8 miles around the Marple area, which is just southeast of the center of Stockport.  The weather was absolutely perfect and stunning -- sunny, dry, low humidity, totally clear skies, and temperatures around 17º C.  They were a really nice, friendly group of people, too.  We walked along an old railroad bed that had been converted to a trail, then along parts of canal towpaths, through fields (watch out for piles of sheep dung) and farms, across a golf course or two (head's up when the golfer yells fore) and cutting through neighborhoods along footpaths in between homeowners' backyard fences.  I saw a few signs asking ramblers to stick to the posted right of way, which is fair enough.

I wouldn't have known where I was without tracking the route on my phone's GPS.

There were two points along the walk I recognized.  One was when we popped out by the Royal Oak pub on the A6.  I'd stopped there with my beer buddies after a day out in the Peak District.  I looked around, recognized where I was, and exclaimed, "I drank there!"  I also recognized when we crossed the A6 again just a few yards away from the entrance to the Lyme Park estate (now a National Trust property that I've visited).

An interesting point on our trek was crossing over a canal bridge with an old WWII pillbox on the corner.  Pillboxes were built in the Cheshire countryside as lines of defense in the event of a German invasion.  During WWII, anti-aircraft guns would have been mounted on top.  One of the canal boat owners had incorporated the abandoned pillbox into his permanent canal boat mooring.  These canal boaters live on their barges full time and even have mail delivered.  I'm not sure how they deal with fresh water and sewage, though.

WWII Pillbox, now part of someone's canal boat home

I also spotted some more traditional narrowboat decorative art (which I had just learned about on Saturday at the Anderton Boat Lift museum) -- horse brasses.  Horse brasses are brass plaques that were used for the decoration of horse harness gear.  Canal barges were towed by horses, so the horse was an incredibly important member of the family.  It became a tradition to collect harness brass to use it as decoration, hanging it on walls.  Here, the barge owner has decorated his door with them.

Narrowboat decorated with horse brass.

At one point, we exited a field right through a homeowner's driveway while she was in her yard gardening.  I felt weird about it, but one of the ramblers pointed out to me that the public right of way was more than likely older than her house.  The footpaths and rights of way are all documented on Ordnance Survey maps, which are public records.  If a landowner tries to block a path, you can report them to the local Council for action.

A system like this only works well if everyone tries to be polite and respectful to each other.  The UK government publishes The Countryside Code, with an admonishment to Respect. Protect. Enjoy.  We were courteous to everyone we saw.  We closed any gates after going through them, and no one left trash on the ground from our tea and lunch stops.

I did learn that I need to procure a folding sitting mat for future walks.  I never knew that such a product existed, but it seems everyone else in the group had one, and it definitely would have been nicer to sit on than grass during our two rest stops.  I called it a 'butt pad' and got some mildly appalled looks, as Brits do not generally use the word 'butt', preferring 'bum' instead.  Need to remember to call it a 'sit mat' for future reference...

One of the other things I really enjoy about the UK -- most activities end up at the local pub for a pint.  :-)  The Railway at Rose Hill Marple station is just a Robinson's pub, so not the best beer or selection, but just about any pint will do after a good hike.

I thoroughly enjoyed everything about the walk and the people, and I will definitely be doing more rambling in the future.  If you want to see all of the photos I took, follow the link to the Google photo story posted here (it's a storybook, so click on the little arrows on the right to advance to the next page, and click on any photo to enlarge it).